90 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



C. serra— ser'-ra (saw-toothed), Wallich. 



A stove sjDecies, of medium dimensions, native of the West Indies, Brazil, 

 and Mexico, with fronds bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib) and borne 

 on stalks that are more or less rough with hard, sharp points, and covered 

 with whitish scales fully liin. long. The spear-shaped pinnules (leafits) 

 with winch they are furnished are deeply pmnatifid, thus forming Hnear- 

 oblong, sickle- shaped lobes, toothed like a saw on the margin and of a smooth 

 nature. The sori (spore masses), which generally cover the whole of the 

 lobes, are covered by involucres of very thin texture, at length forming 

 a shallow cup, which is entire or more or less torn at the margin. — Hooher^ 

 Species Filicum, I, p. 17, t. 9a. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 i., p. 415. 



Fi^. 17. Frond of Cyathea sinuata 

 (J nat. size). 



C. sinuata — sin-u-a'-ta (unevenly lobed). Hooker and Greville. 



This rare, stove species, of small dimensions, native of Ceylon, where it 

 is found on the wooded mountains, and most abundant in the Singhe Rajah 

 Forest, if not the smallest, is undoubtedly the most elegant and graceful of 

 the Cyatheaceous plants, and the only one at present known having simple 

 (undivided) fronds. It is a miniature Tree Fern, particularly elegant in aU its 

 parts, as it forms a caudex (trunk) 2ft. to 4ft. high and seldom thicker than 

 an ordinary walking-stick. The fronds, which are abundantly produced, are 

 of a light shining-green colour and of a thin texture, with pretty and distinct 

 venation, undivided, 2ft. to 3ft, long, l|in. to 2|in. broad, with undulated 

 margins ; they taper at their base into a very short stalk (Fig. 17). The 

 sori (spore masses), roundish and of a bright brown colour, are disposed on 

 each side of the midvein and covered by persistent involucres which eventually 



